PERSONAL DISCLAIMER. This is a foodblog; a personal journal where all opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions. Although it may claim otherwise, this blog does not offer legal, medical, psychiatric, veterinary, logical or any other kind of professional advice. all text+photos by me - Susan Thye, unless otherwise noted. I will hunt you down if you steal or hotlink any of my images and/or text. Have a nice day!

There’s really nothing that gets my heart a-pumping more than a good ol burger. Well that and fried chicken. And Pizza. Or Pancakes. But hey we’re talking about burgers right now so shush because One Penny Red deserves your undivided attention. Like take a look at this Brunch Burger ($16), there’s a fat and juicy pork and fennel sausage pattie, a fried free range egg, cheese, smoked chilli mayo ANDSUGARCUREDBACON. My god that bacon has ruined me, I’ve been seeing it in my dreams! It wasn’t toothachingly sweet but perfectly balanced and super crispy.

I’m always a sucker for Duck Liver Pate ($14) and this did not disappoint. The jar of pate looks deceptively small but in fact there was quite a large amount in there so that we gleefully schmeared inch thick onto the toasted bread. I loved how creamy the pate was against the layer of px jelly and the slices of pickled quince were a nice acidic touch.

The Hay Valley Lamb Shoulder ($32), had Isaac, Raff and I in raptures, the brick of lamb is tender to the max, we didn’t even need the knife to cut into this! It wasn’t super fatty but just so fricken tasty especially with the smooth chickpea puree and the accompanying pomegranate and sorrel side salad cutting through the richness.

Aaaand of course we had to have dessert, the Banana and Salted Caramel Beignets ($14) was the perfect sweet ending to the meal. The beignets satisfied my never ending love for all things donuts, they were light and fluffy with a hit of banana and an oozy molten salted caramel centre. They barely needed the chocolate fudge sauce but we dutifully swirled them in.

One Penny Red is located inside the renovated Summer Hill Post Office near the Town Square. I’ll definitely be back either for breakfast to try their pancakes or for dinner where the Sweet and Sticky Whole Beef Shin on the bone ($85) will be mine.

Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay has been on my wishlist for ages and finally the family clan got together to celebrate my brother’s birthday with seafood and plenty of it! We start with Yarra Valley Salmon Roe ($45/50g) which is just oh so beautifully presented and came with a very generous 2 plates of potato blinis. The blinis were warm with fluffy innards and just begging to be smeared with the accompanying creme fraiche and dab of wasabi before piling on the shiny baubles of briny salmon roe. Bliss.

The Tartare of Ulladulla Bluefin Tuna ($27) is almost too pretty to eat but eat it we did! Cubes of ruby red tuna are dotted with ponzu and contrasts with the crunch of puffed rice, apple and paper thin slices of radish.

The Roast Spencer Gulf King Prawns ($27), are plump and juicy and would have been the perfect specimens had they had their heads intact. There were curls of crispy crackling and a schmear of grits which was enjoyed by the whole table.

BUTTHEN IT WASPIETIME!!! Our Snapper Pie ($48) and special Snapper Pie with Truffles ($75) was wheeled out to us on a table cloth lined trolley and we grin with anticipation. The pastry was golden and super flakey and is supplied by Brasserie Bread whose founder & director Michael Klausen was previously Head Chef at Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay back in 2000.

I wasn’t expecting the pie to be cut into because our table was sharing everything and from previous posts that I’d read I knew they divided the pie and plate it with the mash and tomato.

So the waiter lifts off half the pastry top and places it on top of the other half and wheels away and I’m like wait what, that’s it? I mean, back in the day they would fillet your fish table-side which you know, is super impressive but seriously isn’t smashing into a pie and hearing the sound of the shards of pastry splintering the best part? ANYWAYS. The pie was amazing. There’s a good amount of snapper in the pie, and the sauce is creamy and rich. Oh and the truffle pie? Bloody beauty it was! The smell of the truffles when it hit the table was intoxicating! And the mash was so freaking smooth it was insane! How many more exclamations marks can I use!

We also ordered the Wok Fried Gladstone Mud Crab in Black Bean, Chilli and Ginger ($90/950g) and were pleasantly surprised at the meatiness of the crab. The flesh is sweet and perfect against the saltiness of the black bean sauce.

Oh and there were Hand Cut Chips with Aioli ($12) because, carbs.

I loved the food at Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay and the views were fabulous! Yes it’s on the pricey side but this is one restaurant that is perfect for the special occasion or to impress the out of towners.

After months of honing his menu, Alex Wong aka cheflx has set the Sydney food truck scene on fire with Yang’s Food Truck which will satisfy all your Malaysian food cravings. The truck moves around quite a bit but we managed to catch it while they were parked on the King St end of the Pitt St Mall last week.

The calm before the storm…

Everything on the menu is under $10 (except for when Lex decides to do random dishes like the epic Emperor Nasi Goreng with Tasmanian Black Perigord truffles) so with this in mind, Helen and I decided to order 1 of everything from the menu because that’s how we roll. Or because we were hungry.

I’ve eaten the Soft Shell Crab in Chilli Sauce with Mantou ($9) on a previous visit and it was just as glorious as I remembered. The soft shell crab was piping hot from its fresh baptism in oil, the deep fried mantou bread had a crisp outer layer and wondrously soft and fluffy innards that was perfect for dunking into the rich chilli sauce. I could easily eat 2 of these, it is seriously an absolute bargain.

The Roti Chicken with Sweet Potato ($7) is pretty filling, there’s a generous amount of curry chicken, cubes of tender sweet potato and a smattering of coriander, cucumber and tomato pieces to cut through the richness. The roti itself isn’t as fluffy as the ones at Mamak (though what is?) but it holds its shape well when the whole shebang is picked up.

The Ramli Beef Slider ($5) isn’t quite like the Ramly burgers I remember from Malaysia where the egg holds the patty and toppings in a pocket but hey beggars can’t be choosers and Yang’s is a pretty good substitute though just a tad on the sweet side. The patty is juicy, there’s an oozy fried egg, chopped cabbage and of course Hp and chilli sauce all held together on a toasted milk bun.

The One Spoon Chicken Laksa ($7) is great if you’re on the run, the chicken pieces are all bite sized and the noodles have been cut into shorter strands to make for easier slurpage. The laksa is pretty heavy on the curry and not so much the coconut cream and just be warned if you leave your noodles sitting too long they will absorb all the liquid.

The Nasi Lemak ($6) is a lighter option, the coconut rice is fragrant and ticks all the requisites of a standard nasi lemak with a pile of crispy ikan bilis (aka dried anchovies), peanuts, hard boiled egg, diced cucumber and a dollop of sambal on top.

Maggi Goreng ($7) tastes just like the ones at pasar malam market stalls, the Maggi noodles are boiled then stir fried with dark soy sauce, bean sprouts and there’s a bonus fried egg and choy sum to help with my vegetable intake.

Sadly the Hainan Chicken Rice isn’t available for dinner and instead there’s the Hainan Hot Wings ($5) which are tasty enough and more than makes up for the disappointment of no chicken rice. The mix of wings and drummettes are coated in a light batter so the flesh is still tender and comes with an irresistible chilli and ginger sauce.

To find Yang’s Food Truck, check the Food Truck app or follow them on Instagram in case their schedule changes!